Heart Racing??

Tracie1981
Tracie1981 Member Posts: 125
edited March 2014 in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1
Ok so I finished my chemo(ABVD) and radiation, it was all completed on 10-19-10. Since then was put on Darvocet 3 x daily for a month until the recall. Now I take hydrocodone 5's. Last night my heart started fluttering and then started racing for about an hour or so. Had me terrified. I've had heart problems ever since being diagnosed with Hogdkins ( The tumor(10inches) put strain on my heart and actually pushed it out of place. But ever since I got done I havent had any problems until last night. I dont know if it could be a result of the chemo, radiation or the painkillers. All I want to know is if anyone else has experienced it, I just dont want it to happen again! Also according to the recall on the darvocet they said it caused heart disturbances??? Wish my dr was in on sunday! Thanks

Comments

  • JoanieP
    JoanieP Member Posts: 573
    #2
    Davocet
    Tracie, I thought I hear that they have taken that off the market recently. Please check into it.
  • cathyp
    cathyp Member Posts: 376 Member
    #3
    heart racing
    Hope you are able to relax today.
    I'm not sure this may explain your heart racing but thought I'd add my 2 cents. My Long Term Effect specialist told me 100% of HD survivors have a problem with elevated heart rates. Mine hoovers around 100. When I am ill, tired, recovering form surgery, I tend to feel it more. I can try a beta blocker if it becomes a problem for me. I had HD in 1989 and 1994 and was treated w/rads and ABVD. I don't know how long after treatment the HHR presents itself. All my doctors throughout the years thought I was nervous and that accounted for the rate. It wasn't until I had a heart monitor for 5 days in the hospital that I saw it never was a "normal" rate. I mention this to the specialist and he told me this is common for all HD survivors.
  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    #4
    Heart...
    Hi Tracie,
    After my biopsy in June I was sent home with Darvocet, but ended up not having to use it. When the recall came out I had a full un-touched bottle that I immediately disposed of. All pain meds cause my heart to race, so I avoid them completely. Hydrocodone makes me very antsy and hyper and also causes my heart to race. The worst part of my chemo treatment has been the prednisone which wrecks havoc with my breathing and causes my heart to beat so hard that I hear it in my ears. I think I've had 12 hours sleep since last Tuesday, so my heart always feels like it's working overtime with no rest. The Rituxan I am scheduled to take for the next 2 years is known to cause heart problems, so I am filled with anxiety about starting that process. I have come to the conclusion that the cancer may be the least of our worries when compared to the poison we have to take to combat it. It's like a catch 22...do nothing, or take the risk???...ya know? Even if your doctor isn't in on Sundays, if this happens again today or tonight, then please go to the emergency room. Better to be safe than sorry. Today is my first day without prednisone so here in a little while my body will start to feel like someone has beat me with a bat...can't take pain meds, so I'm gearing up for whats to come..UGH! I will keep you in my prayers today and hope you don't have another bout with the racing heart issue. Take care and God bless you...
    Love...Sue (FNHL-2-3A-6/10)
  • truckingalong
    truckingalong Member Posts: 445 Member
    #5
    allmost60 said:

    Heart...
    Hi Tracie,
    After my biopsy in June I was sent home with Darvocet, but ended up not having to use it. When the recall came out I had a full un-touched bottle that I immediately disposed of. All pain meds cause my heart to race, so I avoid them completely. Hydrocodone makes me very antsy and hyper and also causes my heart to race. The worst part of my chemo treatment has been the prednisone which wrecks havoc with my breathing and causes my heart to beat so hard that I hear it in my ears. I think I've had 12 hours sleep since last Tuesday, so my heart always feels like it's working overtime with no rest. The Rituxan I am scheduled to take for the next 2 years is known to cause heart problems, so I am filled with anxiety about starting that process. I have come to the conclusion that the cancer may be the least of our worries when compared to the poison we have to take to combat it. It's like a catch 22...do nothing, or take the risk???...ya know? Even if your doctor isn't in on Sundays, if this happens again today or tonight, then please go to the emergency room. Better to be safe than sorry. Today is my first day without prednisone so here in a little while my body will start to feel like someone has beat me with a bat...can't take pain meds, so I'm gearing up for whats to come..UGH! I will keep you in my prayers today and hope you don't have another bout with the racing heart issue. Take care and God bless you...
    Love...Sue (FNHL-2-3A-6/10)

    Hope your night goes easy on you
    Tracie,

    My heart beats faster than normal too and I have Hodgkins. But am not taking that medicine you mentioned. Maybe it is my low red blood cell counts or my headache medicine, Topomax? Whatever - Hope your night goes easy for you. You are in my thoughts.

    Sue, hope the same for you!

    Love,
    Liz
  • cathtx
    cathtx Member Posts: 7
    #6
    Fast Heart Rate
    I too have recently finished 6 months of ABVD and my heart started racing not too long after starting treatment. I am on a beta blocker to try and slow it down and it still stayed in the 110 -120's during chemo. I had lymphoma in my heart and ended up with a pacemaker too! My heart rate is still in the 90's all of the time. I do believe it is the ABVD and after effects. Good Luck!
    Catherine
  • Tracie1981
    Tracie1981 Member Posts: 125
    #7
    cathtx said:

    Fast Heart Rate
    I too have recently finished 6 months of ABVD and my heart started racing not too long after starting treatment. I am on a beta blocker to try and slow it down and it still stayed in the 110 -120's during chemo. I had lymphoma in my heart and ended up with a pacemaker too! My heart rate is still in the 90's all of the time. I do believe it is the ABVD and after effects. Good Luck!
    Catherine

    Thanks for the info everyone :)
    Thanks for all the replies, I havent had a real episode again since that day though my heart rate does always stay a little elevated. When I was first diagnosed it stayed at a deadly 170 resting for a week straight until they drained my lungs ( not fun) I go back to see my onc. on Tuesday and as long as I dont have another episode before then I am definitely going to discuss this with him in more detail! Love all you guys, God Bless!!
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #8
    Hi Traci
    I am a 23 year survivor of NHL and I started with the fluttering heart after my first round of chemo way back then. Now, you have to understand my treatments were long ago and different than yours is and everyone is different even with the same cancers and treatments so just because I have had this experience doesn't mean it affects you the same too. However for me this escalated over the years -over many years and I wound up with atrial fibrulation pretty severely. Some doctors said it was the result of one of the chemo drugs they used on me named adriamycin. Turned out lots of people who had my treatment then developed it. I have a pacemaker now because of it all. I don't know if you had adriamycin in your treatments but you might want to ask your doctor and do look into that drug that someone said was not on the market any longer to see if that might have caused your fluttering heart too.

    I have to add that even those this was a popular diagnosis, atrial fibrulation due to adriamycin, some of my cardiologists don't seem that convinced and some do so in the end some things remain a guess. I never had heart problems before my treatments which were CHOP treatment at first with localized rads to abdomen and pelvis area then on recurrance a year and a half later I had an autologus bone marrow transplant with total body radiation. I hear they don't use total body radiation much anymore. I know why personally - too much collateral damage.

    Anywho like I said this is just my story of heart issues with lymphoma treatment and while I have heard of others who had the same issues as I did again my treatments were over 20 years ago. I think that if they still use adriamycin, and I think they do, they monitor it much closer than before.

    All the best with your treatments. By the way the oncologists consider me cured some time ago really so never give up, cures are out there and happening every day.

    Blessings,

    Bluerose

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